Jailed Kentucky clerk Kim Davis argued that marriage licenses issued without her authority Friday to gay couples in Rowan County are void and ‘not worth the paper they are written on’ because she didn’t signed off on them, her lawyer said.

Kim Davis now wears an orange jumpsuit and ‘has already been doing Bible studies with herself’ in jail, attorney Mat Staver told reporters after meeting with her behind bars.

He said Davis is in very good spirits, and is prepared to stay as long as it takes to uphold her religious freedoms.

‘She’s not going to resign, she’s not going to sacrifice her conscience, so she’s doing what Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail, which is to pay the consequences for her decision,’ Staver said.

Meanwhile, Staver said he’s preparing to appeal US District Judge David Bunning’s contempt finding as one of several legal challenges on her behalf.

At least three gay couples received marriage licenses Friday from one of Davis’ deputies, embracing and celebrating after repeatedly being turned away before Davis was jailed on Thursday.

Marriage licenses in Kentucky usually have the elected clerk’s signature on them; those handed out Friday lacked any signature. The Rowan County attorney and lawyers for the gay couples said they are legal and valid nevertheless.

When the judge was asked if the licenses will be considered valid without Davis’ authorization, he said it was up to the gay couples to take that chance.

Earlier today, Staver offered a possible solution to his client’s predicament: to have her name removed from marriage licenses being issued to same-sex couples.

‘She has a very strong conscience and she’s just asking for a simple remedy, and that is, remove her name from the certificate and all will be well,’ Staver said Friday. ‘That simple remedy has simply been ignored by the court and by the governor and that’s what should have been done.’

Davis’ husband Joe declared this morning that his wife will not resign and will stay in jail for as long as it takes.

Mr Davis said the embattled Rowan County clerk is in good spirits after spending the night behind bars but insists she will not step down in the midst of the controversy.

His defiant comments came as same-sex couples who had previously been refused marriage licenses were allowed to tie the knot.